To School or Be Schooled, That is the Question. A place for gossip, debate, and random opinions.

Is it just me or is anyone else completely blown away by the power possessed by our beloved Queen B, referring to the legendary Beyoncé Knowles, of course. I have literally grown up on and been molded by the music and trends that Beyoncé has created over the years.

I learned about the power of the booty from Yoncé.

I learned how to get over a man from Yoncé.

I learned about confidence from Yoncé.

I learned about standards from Yoncé.

I learned about fashion from Yonce.

I literally think that I can attribute more of my personal characteristics to Beyoncé than I can to my own mother (sorry mom.) Does that scare anyone else? I mean to think that musicians, supposedly existing for one purpose in particular, to entertain , exude so much influence on the way that we think and behave as individuals is absolutely frightening to me.

As I weed my way through college, one thing in particular has become painstakingly obvious to me; the notion that, “grades are everything,” is extremely far off in college.

“Adults” —teachers, parents, mentors, advisors— have been drilling the importance of grades into my head for as long as I can remember and yet, the longer I pursue my academic career, the more skeptical I become.

Why is it that for all of elementary, middle and high school, I was told that good grades were the key to my success, and now that I am in college, I am being told a different story? I guess going to college was the extent of that success they were speaking about. But what now?

Now that I’m in college, all I hear is networking, networking, networking. It would have been nice if someone taught me, or even mentioned, networking before I got to college, the place where networking is apparently the key to success; not grades.

One of my very favorite topics of discussion, except not really. You see, the topic of catcalling is a personal favorite because it is something I have personally been dealing with since the time I hit puberty surprisingly early in the 6th grade. However, when forced to face the reality of how disgustingly pervasive, not to mention pathetic, cat calling is, I can’t help but cringe.

“Hey Sexy!”

“Bring that ass over here girl!”

“Baby, just say the word and I’m yours.”

Are you seriously that much of a coward sir? Why not walk up to a beautiful woman and tell her face-to-face, as opposed to face-to-200ft of space, how you really feel.

Despite contrary belief, most women, do not like, in fact despise, when men scream disgustingly inappropriate comments at us from car windows or from across an entire street. Shouting unwanted sexual remarks at a woman is the absolute worst way to flatter a woman. And most importantly, cat calling is not a compliment!

During the upcoming election, taking place on November 4, 2014, Florida will be voting on the Florida Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative, Amendment 2, a law designed to ensure the people’s right to access Medical Marijuana. According to Ballot Pedia, “an interactive almanac of U.S. politics,“ patients who qualify as having a “debilitating medical condition,” will be legally allowed to use marijuana and experience its many fascinating effects.

Now, for the last year and half, Medical Marijuana advocates have been marching up and down the sidewalks of my college campus collecting supporters for this initiative.

This strikes me as just a tad bit inappropriate; offensive even. I mean what is the message being sent here? I get the feeling that college students are being targeted one, because we tend to have a very low rate of voter participation and two, because these advocates believe that college kids will come out to vote if it’s about something they actually “care about,” weed.

Emma Sulkowicz, a senior majoring in visual arts at Columbia University, began an extremely powerful protest in honor of women who are coping with the emotional distress brought on by sexual assault and/or rape cases that are handled inappropriately. According to the Huffington Post,

Sulkowicz was one of 23 students who filed a federal complaint against Columbia for mishandling sexual assault cases, in violation of the gender equity law Title IX.“

Sulkowicz is making an extremely compelling statement by carrying her mattress, the place where she was raped, around with her on campus to symbolize the emotional weight she feels day in and day out, knowing that her rapist is roaming the school, quite freely and without any sort of punishment.

As a friend of someone who has experienced a painfully similar situation, I am in full support of Emma and the “Carry That Weight” movement. I find that all too often, sexual assault and/or rape cases are brushed under the rug in an attempt to avoid a tricky or messy situation.